SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An older U.S. couple whose catamaran was hijacked last week within the Caribbean by three escaped prisoners have been presumed lifeless and sure have been thrown into the ocean, police mentioned Monday.
The accounts by police in Grenada and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been a blow to those that have been independently serving to seek for Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel and had hoped they have been nonetheless alive.
Don McKenzie, police commissioner of the Royal Grenada Police Drive, mentioned at a information convention that the three prisoners escaped on Feb. 18 from the South Saint George Police Station. They hijacked the catamaran “Simplicity” on the next day after which headed to St. Vincent, the place they have been arrested final Wednesday, he mentioned.
“Info means that whereas touring between Grenada and St Vincent, they disposed of the occupants,” McKenzie mentioned.
McKenzie mentioned he had no conclusive proof that the couple was lifeless, however cited a “low likelihood” they have been alive.
Hours later, the primary spokesman for the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Drive posted a video saying that whereas no our bodies have been discovered, the couple is presumed lifeless based mostly on the investigation up to now.
The suspects have been being investigated for a number of felony acts, together with “bodily hurt to the couple,” spokesman Junior Simmons mentioned within the temporary recorded assertion. There have been indicators of violence on the couple’s boat discovered deserted in St. Vincent, he mentioned.
“A number of gadgets have been strewn on the deck and within the cabin, and a pink substance that resembles blood was seen on board,” he mentioned.
The nonprofit Salty Dawg Crusing Affiliation has mentioned that Hendry and Brandel have been “veteran cruisers” and longtime members of the affiliation, calling them “warm-hearted and succesful.”
It mentioned the couple had sailed the yacht in final yr’s Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and have been spending the winter cruising within the jap Caribbean.
A son of Hendry and a son of Brandel didn’t instantly return messages for remark.
A GoFundMe web page created to lift cash for the couple’s household famous that Brandel had not too long ago turn into a first-time grandmother, and that the crusing neighborhood was “shattered” by what occurred.
“Kathy and Ralph, skilled adventurers, spent their retirement crusing aboard Simplicity, spending summers in New England and embracing the heat of Caribbean winters,” the web page said.
McKenzie, Grenada’s police commissioner, mentioned a five-person staff was despatched to St. Vincent to assist with the investigation.
After his temporary announcement on Monday, McKenzie and different police officers took questions from native media, together with one reporter who requested, “Who is admittedly to be blamed for this large failure to maintain these prisoners below the management of the (Royal Grenada Police Drive) which has now resulted on this tragedy?”
McKenzie mentioned police have launched an investigation into the escape and are wanting into whether or not it was “a system failure” or a case of a “slip up.”
“All elements of that investigation are on the desk,” he mentioned, including that the police holding station the place the three males have been being held has “adequate security to stop an incident like that (from) occurring.”
When the reporter requested why the three males who have been arrested remained in a holding cell as a substitute of jail, Vannie Curwen, assistant police commissioner, mentioned the boys first needed to see a Justice of the Peace who would determine whether or not to grant bail or organize them remanded.
The escaped prisoners, Trevon Robertson, a 19-year-old unemployed man; Abita Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer; and Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor; have been charged a few months in the past with one depend of theft with violence. Mitchell additionally was charged with one depend of rape, three counts of tried rape and two counts of indecent assault and inflicting hurt, police in Grenada mentioned.
Simmons mentioned the three males appeared in court docket in St. Vincent on Monday and pleaded responsible to 4 counts every of immigration-related prices, together with getting into the island as a “prohibited immigrant” with no passport. They’re scheduled to be sentenced on these prices in March.
